Disk-harrow attachment.



PATENTED FEB. 12, 1907- W. .FETZER. DISK HARROW ATTACHMENT.

APPLICATION FILED NOV.22, 1905.

anwmlioz rn sra'rns PATET FFTCE.

DISK-HARROW ATTACHMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 12, 1907.

Application filed November 22, 1905. Serial No. 288,556.

To all whom, it nuty concern:

Be it known that I, WVILLIAM FETZER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Middletown, in the county of Butler and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Disk-Harrow Attachments, of which the followingis a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to transportingtrucks for harrows or similar machines designed to support in an elevated position away from engagement with the ground the implements thereof, such as the disks of a disk harrow, and upon which said implements may be conveyed from place to place, as desired.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a truck of this character that may be sold at a nominal price and one which will be strong, simple in construction, and readily and quickly applied to and detached from a harrow or other machine in connection with which the same is used.

Transporting-trucks for disk harrows have heretofore been suggested, but have been found undesirable for numerous reasons, among which may be noted the fact that such constructions are comparatively complicated, or the parts thereof require special machine treatment, or they have been fixed as permanent fittings to the spool 0r axle of the disk, and consequently subjected to considerable wear when not employed to elevate the disks, or they have been maintained in position through the medium of braces running diagonally from the wheels of the truck to the tongue of the machine, thereby permitting lateral stress to force the same out of the direct line of draft of the machine. As compared with this latter structure, my present invention contemplates a much stronger device in that there is the provision of means adapted to engage the main frame of the machine or harrow section, whereby to fasten the same independently of the tongue and in the direct line of draft or operation in which the transporting-truck is used.

A further advantage of my improved structure resides in the fact that no machinelabor is required after the parts are molded, it simply being necessary to clean them, after which they are ready for immediate use.

That the invention may be more readily understood I have shown in the accompanying drawings a convenient embodiment of the same, and the novel details of construc tion and arrangement of the several parts will be apparent from the detailed description hereinafter contained when read in connection with said drawings and from the hereto-appended claims. Among these novel details may be mentioned a peculiarly formed socket or stirrup for the reception of the disk axle or spool; the peculiar arrangement of the ground-wheel, the spool-receiving stirrup, and a holding extension whereby when the truck is applied the parts will assume a dead-center position or one slightly beyond a dead-center position to facilitate their maintenance in operative association, and the removability of the handle or holding extension with respect to the socketed POT-r tion, which latter carries the ground-wheel.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a fragmentary sectional view of a disk harrow, showing my truck applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the truck removed, and Fig. 4 is a detail view of one of the catches for retaining the trucks in place while supporting the machine or implement.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, wherein like reference characters refer to corresponding parts in the several views, A designates one of the top or transverse bars of the frame of the harrow-section; B, the disks of the harrow carried by said frame; C, the disk-shaft, and D the spools of the disks adapted to rotate with said axle. It will be observed that the bar A is slotted longitudinally to provide parallel front and back guide portions (1 of rectangular crosssection, to either of which may be applied a sliding catch E, having a sleeve portion e, adapted to loosely embrace one of said parallel portions, and a forwardly and laterally extending finger e for a purpose to be hereinafter pointed out.

The truck comprises a round-wheel F, mounted upon an axle f in t e lower end of a fork F cast with which latter is a rearwardlydisposed socket or stirrup G, the opposite walls of the stirrup being so arranged with relation to the fork that when in use said walls will approximate a vertical position.

The socket is designed to be slipped beneath the spool of the disk, so as to permit the free entrance of the spool thereinto when the implement is to be elevated onto the ground-wheel, and the arrangement of the walls of this stirrup, being disposed as above ITO stated, is such that when properly applied the spool will remain therein irrespective of other fastening means, although in some instances I may find it expedient to provide a locking-pin 9, adapted to be inserted in alined apertures g in the walls of the stirrup.

The end H of the forked portion of the device projects forwardly from the stirrup and is formed hollow, Fig. 3, for the reception of the lower end of the handle or holding extension I. The relative arrangement of parts just described is clearly shown in Fig 2, as also the application of the truck to the harrow. The spool of the disk having been slipped into the stirrup either from the front or the rear of the machine, whichever may be desired, depending upon the conditions under which the truck is used and the arrangements of the seedbox or other attachments of the machine, the handle I is grasped and elevated to correspondingly elevate the disks until said handle engages the edge of the bar A, when the socketcd portion of the truck will have assumed a position out of alinement with the axle of the ground-wheel and the point of contact between the handle and bar A, in which position the parts are beyond a dead-center position, and the weight of the machine will tend to hold the truck in position with the parts elevated. As a further means for securing the truck against displacement when the disks are elevated-as, for instance, to prevent the handle portion I moving forwardly away from engagement with the bar A when the truck is inserted from the front of the vehicle and the vehicle moved, which is liable to occur owing to the friction between the ground-wheel and the surface of the groundI provide the sliding catch E, heretofore referred to, the finger of which may he slipped in front of said handle or holding portion I, as is obvious. By this arrangement very little strain is imparted to the catch and the maximum weight of the suspended disks borne directly by the groundwheel.

As before stated, the truck may be applied either from the front of the machine or the rear thereof, and this is a highly advantageous feature because when applied from the front the truck will not interfere with any seeding attachment placed at the rear, and in such cases where there are no attachments to interfere with the application of the truck from the rear the constant danger. in inserting the truck immediately behind the horses or other draft-animals is overcome.

Although a special embodiment of the invention has been herein disclosed, it is to be understood that the invention is susceptible of still further embodiments, as may be determined from the scope of the claims.

I claim- 1. A knockdown truck for disk harrows comprising a wheel, a member carrying said wheel having a socket for the reception of the axle of the disks, and another socket opening at a point above said first-mentioned socket, and a handle portion adapted to be detachably inserted in said last-mentioned socket.

2. In combination with a disk harrow, a truck therefor comprising a wheel, a member carrying said wheel having a socket for the reception of the axle of the disks, a handle projecting upwardly with respect thereto, a transverse bar on the harrow against which said extension abuts, and a slidable catch shiftable longitudinally of said bar to engage said extension to hold the truck in place.

3. A truck for disk harrows comprising a wheel, a member carrying the wheel projecting upwardly therefrom and occupying an approximately true vertical position, said member having a socket projecting thereinto to a point substantially directly above the axle of the wheel carried by said member, and an extension projectin upwardly from the socketed portion of sait member and at a slight inclination with respect thereto.

,In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM FETZER.

Witnesses G. SULLIVAN, F. W. CLIsE. 

